Weekend Writing Warriors: Tourist Trap

Welcome to another episode of Weekend Writing Warriors (click on the logo above) and Snippet Sunday (click on the logo below.)

I’m continuing from last week with Roi, who has just regained control of his sabotaged hang glider – but his problems aren’t over yet. This snippet is from Tourist Trap, published in 2011 and winner of the Reader Views award for best fiction book of the year in 2012.

He looked down at the ground to his left, searching for his own shadow to help him estimate distance. Two shadows?

He turned his head and saw a large power flier pacing his glider, above and behind him, where most of the craft was hidden by the wing above him. Rage flooded through his body, and he gathered and channeled it toward the enemy craft, banking his own wing enough to see the markings on the craft that must have been responsible for his plight. He reached toward the flyer, with every intention of blasting it out of the sky, and abruptly saw the mammoth device, and picked up a hint of concern over his own plight from the vessel that had become his target. Horrified, he wrenched at the building rage, somehow transmuting it and changing direction toward where Central and his father should be, ten light years away.

Get this goddam baby-sitter off my back! he snarled into his father’s mind, and felt Lai’s shocked response.

Blurb for Tourist Trap: A vacation with his three best friends from slavery and a manhood challenge: Roi is given the graduation present he has dreamed of. Dogsledding, hang gliding, a chance to see Pleistocene animals transplanted to a Terraformed vacation world, horseback riding, sailing … all the sports he has returned to with his recovery from paralysis, and a few new ones to learn.

They’re prepared for danger from weather, wild animals and extreme sports. But none of them realize that Roi’s half brother Zhaim, determined to recover his old position as Lai’s heir, intends to kill them if he can—and he’s decided that the dangers of the trip will make a perfect cover for his schemes.

How long will it take them to realize that the “accidents” they keep running into are more than just accidents?

Tourist Trap, the second novel of the Jarnian Confederation, won first place in science fiction and fiction book of the year in the 2011 Reader Views contest.

Reviewers say:

“Fans of Sue Ann Bowling’s novel Homecoming will not be disappointed with its sequel. Tourist Trap returns the reader to the world of the Jarnian Confederation—to Roi, Lai, Marna, and all of their friends and relations. The author does a stellar job of bringing these characters to life, allowing the reader to not only see their actions but to understand the culture and politics that motivate them. (ForeWord Clarion review)

“Tourist Trap” is a great read for anyone that wants motivation and feeling to accompany the action in their sci-fi adventure. Alien beings and super powers are an integral part of Roi’s story but what makes this novel really shine is the heart. Nobody is good or evil just because that’s their assigned role. Just like in real life, everyone has their own motivations and desires, and Bowling does a great job of letting the reader see what it would be like to walk in the shoes of Roi, Xazhar, and even madman Zhaim. (ReaderViews review)

Also, I’m asking for help in identifying book or writer on this. Our local librarian is stumped.

The main character is a dragon shifter. She is with the police but some are afraid she will go to the dark side since she had one parent that was good and one that was bad.There is a witch in a wheel chair who is around 600 years old. There is a prophecy that if she dies 3 times a curse will be broken.There is a character named Princess Bri or BriannaThey all live on an island.The Island has Protectors and only the characters can go on and of the island.The previous stated witch and a warlock dies and in the process of coming back, the daughter of the witch dies.There is also a character that is a “normal” human Special Ops guy that kills off demon-like beings.

Higher than he is but not necessarily higher than the “babysitter” craft. And Penny, at least, would know the craft is “friendly” and never think to mention it. And you can’t see much above you in a hang glider

Hang gliding has always sounded scary to me — you’re so vulnerable — and you’ve made it even more dangerous by sabotaging the glider! I’d like to know more about this world that offers hang gliding, horseback riding, sailing, etc., for tourists. What fun!

Right. The energy can be “borrowed” from other sources, known as linking to an energy source, also called “boosting.” Roi has learned to do it almost automatically, but he and Lai both are shocked that he is able to reach that far without a dedicated computer boost. Anger and adrenaline.